It’s onomatopoeic — it’s the kissing sound that children make in Korean, though adults use it too. The other word for ‘kiss’ in Korean is a transliteration of the English: 키스 (ki-suh). Does that mean there was no kissing on the peninsula before the Western concept arrived? Sort of like the missionary position, I guess…

The reason I’ve suddenly become interested in kids songs is because I came across a CD that contains 30 Korean children songs, and the only song I was immediately familiar with was Bbo-bbo-bbo.